Last week I prepared Eden’s first meals. With a couple sweet potatoes that had been waiting in my hanging basket and a summer squash from my farm share, I boiled and baked then pureed what will soon be her first solid foods. With a piping bag I squeezed them into ice cube trays, covered it up with plastic wrap, and froze.

I am waiting for another couple weeks, until her 6 month birthday, to introduce her to solids, both for her sake and mine. Her’s because it’s recommended to exclusively breast feed for the first six months (if you are able) and mine because I have an irrational fear about her growing up too fast. I’m serious, it’s irrational. I remember staring at her in the hospital, hours after she was born, sobbing because I was afraid she’d be leaving for college soon.

Hours after she was born and headed off to college

I’ve mellowed out about the whole “growing old too quickly” thing, but I still find transitions hard. Transitioning to her own room made for some long nights. Not so much because she was having trouble as I found the couch in her bedroom quite uncomfortable to sleep on. When Jason finally convinced me I needed to do some sleep training: training me to sleep in our room, I had the monitor up so loud I was waking up to crickets three yards over.

And before I have fully trained myself back into my bed, I have to deal with yet another transition: solids. Soon I will be making the conscious decision to make Eden a vegan. Up until this point I continued my lifestyle and grew, birthed, and raised a baby out of the choices I had made for myself. Now I will also be making choices specifically for Eden, a choice with which many won’t agree. In this transition I need to be prepared for another round of, “Are you gonna make her a vegan?”.

“After a healthy vegan pregnancy, my daughter entered the world with all 10 fingers and all 10 toes. Despite my smooth and uncomplicated journey to motherhood, I was still peppered with questions and skepticism concerning my diet along the way. It was all well and good to be vegan before, but now that a child was involved, I was going to drop this whole plant-based nonsense … right?

Questions and criticism have continued during the first year of my child’s life and I’m sure I’ll continue to encounter the same challenges at schools, doctor’s offices, celebrations, and vacations as the years progress. Most people mean well—they care about my kid and want her to thrive—but they’re speaking from a place of misunderstanding. It’s easy to get tongue-tied and upset in these situations which is why it’s handy to have some ready-made answers in your back pocket.”

The article continues to answer three of the most common questions (and misunderstandings) with well thought out, well articulated responses.Enough from me, though, you should really just read it.

As I begin this new phase, I know I have a lot more than just personal adjusting to do. Here are a few of the conclusions I have reached:

1. It is important to be well-educated on the baby’s nutritional needs and the foods necessary to fulfill them. There are all sorts of books and websites heavy with this information. Corinne Bowen’s article is a great starting point with links to other supportive dietary information.

2. Like I said in my article Pregnant and Vegan, support is key to success. Especially with the consistent, skeptical questions. Friends, family, doctors are all great support system, but for those who lack support in those areas, find online support. The Kind Life, Alicia Silverstone’s website has great forumsfor vegan pregnancies and parenthood.

3. Have fun with food. I may be scared of Eden growing up, but also I am so excited to introduce her to the world of food! This process can be a lot of fun, and the more fun, I have, the more confident I will feel as I make the choice to raise my child vegan in a non-vegan world.

And because I can’t help myself, let’s just get one more look at her before she wakes up and moves out.

I just came across your blog, kudo’s! I have a veggie kid who is a very healthy 4 year old. Many people worry that he is not getting enough protein, iron, etc…. I try to explain that many grains, veggies, beans and other non processed foods have all of that and more. I use hemp, flax and other various seeds and healthy foods to get our omega’s and so forth. This concept is so foreign and scary to many. Like Ryann mentioned, these very critics see nothing wrong with McDonald’s and to take it further packaged junk like mac and cheese, frozen dinners, and so forth. My son drinks green smoothies for breakfast instead of wolfing down eggs and bacon. He is getting more iron, protein and so forth with our breakfast choices than a traditional breakfast offers. Don’t get me wrong, we still have our pancakes (vegan style) and other yummy treats, we just make everything from scratch and choose our ingredients. Just wait until Eden can participate in the kitchen, so much fun. I started my son as soon as he could sit up on his own. He got to smell and touch foods I cooked with and as he gets older I find age appropriate tasks for him so he can be my assistant. It helps this working mom still have nourishing foods but still spending time with my son. I could rant for hours, LOL. Long story short, glad to find your blog and I can’t wait to try the Apple Cider Donut recipe!

Thanks for sharing Wendy! It sounds like you have one of the healthiest kids out there. I aspire to get Eden drinking green smoothies and eating flax. I got her a play kitchen from ikea recently and set it up in my kitchen so that she can “help” me when I cook. The first step towards getting familiar with the food she eats, I suppose.

recipes straight to your inbox!

Sponsors

affiliate link disclosure

My Darling Vegan contains affiliate links. This means I receive a small commission with each purchase you make on this site. Please know that I only promote products which I use and absolutely love.
Thanks for your support!